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Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Sex Trafficking, Prostitution Case

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in a Brooklyn courtroom on Friday.

Angel Cortez-Granados, 26, became the fifth member of the Granados family to be convicted, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.

Cortez-Granados was arrested in 2011 during an ongoing investigation into the Granados Sex Trafficking organization the U.S. Attorney's Eastern District office said.

Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Sex Trafficking Case

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch and James Hayes.

"Angel Cortez-Granados ruthlessly exploited his victims, using threats of violence to force them into a form of sexual slavery. The significant sentence imposed today is an important step in restoring dignity to the defendant's victims," Lynch said.

In March, 2012 Cortez-Granados pleaded guilty to smuggling a woman into the United States from Mexico and forcing her to engage in prostitution.

According to court documents Cortez-Granados also smuggled a second woman into the country and forced both women to engage in commercial sex acts under threat of violence.

The women were reportedly forced to service some 100 clients every week and required to reach weekly quotas of $1,500. The women were allegedly forced to work in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

At the conclusion of his sentence Cortez-Granados will face five years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay $145,815 in restitution to his two victims.

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